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 It was a rough start to 2013 with players locked out by owners,
the New Year's Day outdoor Winter Classic canceled and the season on
the brink of being scrapped before a last-gasp deal in early January
salvaged a 48-game schedule.
The year, however, will end on a much more upbeat note as National
Hockey League (NHL) Commissioner Gary Bettman announced last month a
whopping 12-year $5.2 billion Canadian TV rights deal that is the
largest for the NHL.
On another bargaining front, the NHL faced off with the
International Ice Hockey Federation and International Olympic
Committee before agreeing to extend their Olympic participation so
players can compete in the February 7-23 Sochi Games.
While much of the drama was generated around negotiation tables
there was plenty of action on the ice as well.
The Chicago Blackhawks claimed a second Stanley Cup in four seasons
by beating the Boston Bruins in a pulsating, bone-jarring Final that
pitted two of the league's Original Six teams against each other for
the first time since 1979.
A breathtaking postseason reminded disillusioned fans of all that is
good and fascinating about ice hockey, undoing a good chunk of the
damage done by the bitter labor dispute.
The season culminated in a rollicking Finals that featured three
overtimes before the Stanley Cup was finally hoisted on a sweltering
summer night in Boston when Chicago scored twice in the final 76
seconds to clinch the best-of-seven series in six games in front of
a stunned crowd.
Washington Capitals Russian sniper Alexander Ovechkin skated away
with the NHL's top individual honors by claiming the Hart Trophy as
the league's most valuable player for a third time in six seasons
along with the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for being the leading
goal scorer.
But for all his accomplishments, Ovechkin's sparkling resume
remained incomplete as he was again unable to get his name engraved
on the Stanley Cup.
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Flush with cash and a new 10-year labor deal in place, the
NHL marketing machine shifted into high gear in 2013, promoting
the return of the Winter Classic to Detroit on January 1 where
the Red Wings will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in an outdoor
game expected to attract an NHL record crowd of nearly 110,000.
Operating under the belief you can never have too much of a good
thing, the NHL announced it will stage six outdoor games this
season from Los Angeles to New York.
The outdoor extravaganza begins in Detroit on New Year's Day and
ends with the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators squaring off
in the Heritage Classic at BC Place, the venue used for the
opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
In between, the NHL will stage a four-game Stadium Series with
contests at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Soldier Field in
Chicago and two games at New York's Yankee Stadium.
"One of the most important things to come out of the
negotiations was 10 years of labor peace and that is allowing us
to begin to execute the plans we have for growing the game and
growing revenues," John Collins, the NHL's chief operating
officer, told Reuters.
"We've added a lot of blue chip partners on the broadcast and
the sponsorship side, who said they like where the game is and
like where it's going and want to spend money promoting and
activating around hockey."
But just when it seemed like smooth sailing ahead, new storm
clouds arrived in the form of a class action lawsuit against the
NHL last month by former players claiming the league did not do
enough to reduce the risk of concussions.
The lawsuit came less than three months after the National
Football League paid $765 million to settle a similar lawsuit
brought by thousands of former players, many suffering from
dementia and health problems.
Bettman, who has never backed away from a fight, dismissed the
lawsuit and immediately issued a statement saying the NHL
intended "to defend the case vigorously."
(Editing by Frank Pingue)
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